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East Kent Foot Care

East Kent Foot Care operates as a community-based service providing an extensive range of foot health care treatments from clinics and direct in people’s homes.

From podiatry to chiropody, it has clinics in Ashford, Dover, Littlestone and on the Romney Marsh. They operate either as stand-alone clinics, or as part of community health care providers.

Among its specialist care services, it also offers a foot care and monitoring service for those with high risk conditions.

In order to help relieve the pressure of GPs in the Ashford area, from November 2020, it has been delivering a foot screening programme, alongside leading diabetic charity in the county, the Paula Carr Trust, to allow those with the condition to access the services at no cost. It has proved a great success with 25 patients a day being seen and has been fully booked ever since it launched.

It presented the proposal to the charity amid concerns diabetics were missing the vital feet check-ups due to the pandemic.

Such has been its success, many diabetics, after one visit, have signed up to become regular patients.

In addition, prior to the health crisis, it had delivered free- of-charge foot clinics for the homeless and vulnerable after a fundraising campaign, and is looking to restart the programme as soon as possible. following the disruption of the last 18 months.

Such is the commitment to improving foot care, specialist podiatrist Jo Shapter, who formed East Kent Foot Care in 2010, has offered her help in upskilling community and student nurses, student podiatrists and other foot practitioners.

The success of its various initiatives and pursuit of excellence in the treatments and care it offers, means it is now looking to further expand into a multi-treatment room setting. It is also in talks with the University of Brighton to train more apprentice podiatrists – something it hopes to get under way next year.

It also hopes to expand the diabetic screening service to Dover and New Romney.

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